Nazi War Criminal John Demjanjuk Dies Aged 91
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: John Demjanjuk, the Nazi prison camp guard convicted of the murder of 27,900 Jews, has died in a German nursing home.

The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk was found guilty of accessory to murder in May 2011, in what was billed as Germany's last major war crimes trial.

He was a guard at the Sobobor [sic] camp in Poland where more than 27,000 people died during World War II.

The Munich trial, which lasted 18 months, was not the first for the burly and bespectacled Demjanjuk who emigrated to the United States after the war.

In 1986, he stood trial in Jerusalem accused of being "Ivan the Terrible," an infamous Ukrainian guard at another death camp, Treblinka.

Even in Treblinka, where beatings, gassing and torture were part of the daily routine, "Ivan the Terrible" stood out for his perverse sadism. » | Saturday, March 17, 2012

Pakistan Fashion House Sana-Safinaz Under Fire for Rich-poor Divide Poster
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Sana-Safinaz, one of Pakistan's best-known fashion houses, has found itself mired in controversy after a glossy advertising campaign pictured a glamorous model alongside penniless porters carrying her Louis Vuitton luggage.

Sana-Safinaz's latest spring-summer collection of dresses and fabrics hits shops in Pakistan later this month.

However, when the design house posted a photograph of its ad campaign on Facebook the result was a storm of angry comments.

"It just glorifies the gap between rich and poor. Look at the poor man. Their whole life worth is less than that bag," was a typical response. » | Rob Crilly | Islamabad | Friday, March 16, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury Resigns: Tributes to Rowan Williams
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron, the Prime Minister has led tributes to Dr Rowan Williams who announced today he was stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury. Here is a round up of the reaction:

As a man of great learning and humility, he has guided the church through times of challenge and change," the Prime Minister said.

He has sought to unite different communities and offer a profoundly humane sense of moral leadership that was respected by people of all faiths and none.

As Prime Minister, I have been grateful for his support and advice and for the work he has done around the world, particularly in Africa where he has taken such a close interest in the Sudan.

» | Friday, March 16, 2012

Italy: Police Arrest Moroccan Over Alleged Synagogue Plot

HT: Cheradenine Zakalwe @ Islam versus Europe »

Turkey Urges Citizens to Leave Syria
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkey urged its citizens to leave Syria as it contemplates establishing a buffer zone within the Syrian border to help deal with the flow of refugees fleeing the conflict.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has announced that it will be halting some of its consular services in Damascus next week, as the ongoing violence in Syria now poses “serious security risks” for Turkish citizens and they are “strongly urged to come home.”

Its embassy in Damascus will remain open, despite many Western and Arabic nations halting their ambassadorial activity within Syria, including the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Turkey is also considering the establishment of a buffer zone within the Syrian border, which they would use to aid refugees trying to escape the country. However, such a move could bring Turkish forces into contact with the Syrian government’s troops, who were recently engaged in an assault on the city of Idlib near the Turkish border. » | Paul Carsten | Friday, March 16, 2012

La «taupe» Manning présumée d'avoir aidé Al-Qaïda

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Le soldat Bradley Manning a aidé Al-Qaïda en transmettant des milliers de documents militaires et de câbles diplomatiques, a accusé jeudi le gouvernement américain.

L'ancien analyste de renseignements en Irak a été formellement accusé fin février de «collusion avec l'ennemi» et cet ennemi a été identifié comme étant Al-Qaïda jeudi lors d'une audience préliminaire à Fort Meade (Maryland, Est), présidée par la juge militaire, Denise Lind.

La défense, elle, réclame un non-lieu pour manque de transparence.

«Qui est l'ennemi?», a déclaré la magistrate, en lisant une question de la défense.

«La réponse est: Al-Qaïda dans la Péninsule arabique», a-t-elle ajouté en citant l'accusation.

Elle a également précisé, en réponse à une autre demande de la défense, que Bradley Manning avait «aidé l'ennemi» en «transmettant des informations via le site internet WikiLeaks». » | afp/Newsnet | jeudi 15 mars 2012

The Real Obama: Saul Alinsky Connection

More Than 100 Homes Damaged by Mich. Tornado

USA TODAY: DEXTER, Mich. – A solitary hand stuck out of the rubble of a home destroyed when a tornado ripped through a Michigan village leaving more than 100 homes in splinters.

The first officer on the scene, Washtenaw CountySheriff's Deputy Ray Yee, reached for the hand and pulled out an elderly man who was shaken but able to walk.

"That's the best part," Yee said. "Every place I went to, I would have thought I would have found somebody laying there — deceased or whatever. But, knock on wood, everybody was OK."

Initial estimates indicate the tornado that hit Dexter, northwest of Ann Arbor, Thursday evening was packing winds of around 135 mph, National Weather Servicemeteorologist Steven Freitag said Friday. He said it was on the ground for about a half hour and plowed a path about 10 miles long.

There were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities, authorities said. » | From staff and wires | Friday, March 16, 2012

The bin Laden Plot to Kill President Obama
THE WASHINGTON POST: Before his death, Osama bin Laden boldly commanded his network to organize special cells in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of President Barack Obama and Gen. David Petraeus.

“The reason for concentrating on them,” the al-Qaeda leader explained to his top lieutenant, “is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make (Vice President Joe) Biden take over the presidency. … Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour … and killing him would alter the war’s path” in Afghanistan. » | David Ignatius | Opinion Writer | Friday, March 16, 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury: Wearing a Cross Does Not Offend Non-Christians
The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken in support of wearing the cross saying that it does not offend non-Christians on the day he announced he was stepping down.

Read the article here | John-Paul Ford Rojas | Friday, March 16, 2012

George Clooney Arrested

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: George Clooney has been arrested and handcuffed during a protest at the Sudanese Embassy in Washington.

Clooney and other protesters, including his father Nick, Virginia congressman Jim Moran, and civil rights leader Ben Jealous, were placed in the back of a US Secret Service van and taken away.

The group of activists had been given three verbal warnings not to cross a police line as they gathered outside the embassy. Others at the prostest included Martin Luther King III. They blame the government of Sudan for attacks that have killed civilians there.

"I’m just trying to raise attention. Let your Congress know, let your president know," said Clooney.

“It’s actually a humiliating thing to be arrested no matter what you do, but i’m [sic] glad to be standing here with my father.” » | Nick Allen, and Jon Swaine in Washington | Friday, March 16, 2012

Related video »

George Clooney Arrested Protesting Outside Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC

Egemen Bagis: 'Europe Needs Turkey'
Turkey's chief EU negotiator explains why his country wants to join an EU in the midst of a deepening economic crisis.

Robert Fisk Speaks to Al Jazeera
British Journalist and author, Robert Fisk speaks to Al Jazeera on why he thinks the Syrian uprising has a series of issues which cause political ramifications.

Obama and Cameron Share a Laugh... and a Love-in: Extraordinary Display of Back-slapping in Official Behind-the-scenes Pictures of Visit to U.S.

MAIL ONLINE: PM concludes three-day visit with Barack Obama by delivering controversial endorsement of four more years of his presidency

David Cameron concluded a three-day love-in with Barack Obama by comparing him with Theodore Roosevelt and delivering what was seen in the U.S. as a controversial endorsement of four more years of his presidency.

In another extraordinary series of exchanges between the two leaders, the Premier ladelled praise on Mr Obama for pressing the ‘reset button on the moral authority of the entire free world’.

In return, the President hailed Mr Cameron’s leadership and ‘commitment to dignity’, paying tribute to the way he and his wife Samantha contended with the death of their disabled son, Ivan, in 2009. » | James Chapman | Friday, March 16, 2012

Political Propaganda: The Road We've Traveled

Afghan Shooting Soldier Had Just Seen Friend's Leg Blown Off, Says Lawyer
THE GUARDIAN: Suspect in killing of 16 villagers is described as decorated serviceman scarred by war wounds and multiple tours of duty


The US soldier accused of shooting dead 16 Afghan villagers saw his friend's leg blown off the day before and is himself a decorated survivor of war wounds from mutliple tours of duty, his lawyer has said.

Seattle attorney John Henry Browne said that according to his client's family the soldier had been standing next to his friend when the blast happened.

Browne said all of the soldiers at the remote camp where his client was assigned were upset by the injury. It was not clear whether that might have prompted the killings last Sunday of the civilians, who included women and children.

The soldier, a 38-year-old father of two originally from the American midwest, deployed in December 2011 with the 3rd Stryker Brigade, and on 1 February was attached to a "village stability operation".

Browne described him as highly decorated and said he had once been nominated for a Bronze Star, though he did not receive it. » | Staff and agencies | Friday, March 16, 2012

Rowan Williams Resigns as Archbishop of Canterbury
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams is to step down as archbishop of Canterbury at the end of 2012 to take up a university position at Cambridge


The archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is to resign and return to academia as master of Magdalene college, Cambridge.

Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December in time to start his new role next January.

His time in office has been marked by a slowly growing schism in the worldwide Anglican church, which he has failed to heal. Williams has been attacked by conservatives for his liberal views on homosexuality and by liberals for failing to live up to these principles.

But he has been respected on all sides for his gifts as a preacher of great eloquence and flashes of clarity. » | Andrew Brown | Friday, March 16, 2012

Related »

THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams: from least loved to cleverest man in the Church of England – The archbishop of Canterbury's views on female and gay clergy caused hostility but his intelligence was undeniable » | Amelia Hill | Friday, March 16, 2012

Rowan Williams to Step Down as Archbishop of Canterbury
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has announced he is to step down after ten years as he admitted that the row over homosexuality in the Church has been a "major nuisance".

Dr Williams, 61, will leave at the end of December to take up a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge next January. The Queen, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has been informed.

His reign has been plagued by bitter rows over gay clergy and women bishops that have left him struggling to prevent the Church from unravelling.

Explaining his reasons for leaving, Dr Williams admitted that "crisis management" was not his "favourite activity" but denied the rows over homosexuality had "overshadowed everything".

But he said: "It has certainly been a major nuisance. But in every job that you are in there are controversies and conflicts and this one isn't going to go away in a hurry. I can't say that it is a great sense of 'free at last'."

Dr Williams said his successor would need the "constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros". » | John-Paul Ford Rojas | Friday, March 16, 2012

Mary Ann Sieghart: Be Glad You Live in Britain, Not the US, If You're Gay or a Woman

THE INDEPENDENT: Contraception is free and uncontroversial, sex education sensible and gay relationships are becoming normalised

Which ideas will endure for at least another century?" was one of the questions we were posed at a thought-provoking conference over the weekend. We considered and dismissed democracy – in the past century, it's been overthrown by communism, fascism and autocracy – and capitalism, which even now seems a little under threat. One concept, though, kept bubbling up into my mind: love.

Whether you worship the Beatles or the Bible doesn't matter. Love is either all you need or it's greater even than faith and hope, and all three will endure. It's the biggest contributor to human happiness, and if politicians dare to intrude into our love lives, they can have a more profound effect than any tinkering with taxes or the national curriculum. Which is why women and gay men should be deeply grateful that, in this era, we live in Britain and not the United States.

In this country, people have become increasingly freer to love whom they like and to live how they like. Tolerance of homosexuality in particular has blossomed in the past couple of decades, making the country strikingly more generous. It's been a really big and welcome cultural change. » | Mary Ann Sieghart | Monday, March 12, 2012

Pakistan: Schweizer Geiseln haben sich selbst befreit
Die in Pakistan verschleppten Schweizer sind frei. Dies hat das Eidgenössische Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten (EDA) bestätigt. Verwirrung herrscht darüber, wie sie frei gekommen sind. Das Paar gab an, sich nach über neun Monaten Geiselhaft selbst befreit zu haben. Über den Hergang der Flucht sind keine Details bekannt.

NINE MSN: Swiss hostages escape Pakistani Taliban: A Swiss couple escaped after being held captive by the Pakistani Taliban for more than eight months, Switzerland's foreign minister has said. ¶ Didier Burkhalter said no ransom was paid for policeman Olivier David Och, 31, and Daniela Widmer, 28, who were flown to the Pakistan capital Islamabad, smiling and waving to the cameras and apparently in good health. » | AFP | Friday, March 16, 2012

Verwandt »

Sharia Man In Court for Mardi Gras TNT Threat
THE AUSTRALIAN: IBRAHIM Siddiq-Conlon, a Muslim convert who has argued for the imposition of sharia law in Australia, has been charged with making a hoax terrorist threat after he allegedly threatened to "wear some TNT" to Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Mr Siddiq-Conlon, who is behind the controversial organisation Sharia4Australia, has also been charged with child pornography offences after police allegedly found a number of illegal images on his home computer.

The western Sydney man yesterday declined to say if he was guilty of the pornography charges, which he admitted would attract "some minor punishment" under sharia law if he were found guilty.
"It might be a lashing, it might be jail, it might be a fine," Mr Siddiq-Conlon said.

Salim Farrar, an expert in sharia law at Sydney University, said pornography was forbidden under Islamic law, although most jurisdictions made no distinction between adult and child material. » | Paul Maley and Natasha Robinson | The Australian | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Obama Summons Ghost of His Mother in New Hollywood-style Campaign Film

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama summoned the ghost of his mother and the story of her battle against cancer to try and persuade voters of the merits of his controversial health care reforms, as his re-election campaign stepped into high gear.

"When my mom got cancer, she wasn't a wealthy woman. And it pretty much drained all her resources," Mr Obama said in a super-slick Hollywood-style campaign film that was released on Thursday.

"Watching your mother die of something that could've been prevented, I don't think he wants to see anyone go through that," Michelle Obama adds on the film, which is directed by Davis Guggenheim, the Oscar winning director of An Inconvenient Truth.

The 17-minute account of Mr Obama's first term is narrated by Tom Hanks and had been used to tease donations from Obama supporters who were invited to watch "premieres" at 300 screenings last night. Campaign strategists hope to make it an online hit.

Mr Obama used the story of his dying mother back in 2008 when the promise of healthcare reform was a key plank of his campaign for President.

His reforms were passed in a water-down version now often referred to derisorily as "Obamacare" by Republicans who accuse Mr Obama of "socialising" medical care. The reforms are now the subject of a challenge in the US Supreme Court.

The film was released on the day that Mr Obama launched a withering attack on Republican's for their love of Big Oil and what he describe as their "flat-earther" approach to renewable energies. » | Peter Foster | Washington | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Lashes Out at Paris Match over Pictures of Her Daughter
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has lashed out at Paris Match for publishing photos of the French First Lady with her baby girl Giulia on front page without her or husband Nicolas' consent.

The magazine published the image, taken by the paparazzi and showing the 43-year-old as she walked her daughter to the paediatrician, on its front page. The child's features were airbrushed out.

"I would like to specify that the picture was taken without my consent and I deplore the use of the image of my children just like any aspect of their private life," Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said on her website.

She did not say whether she would be filing a legal complaint.

Happy to play an increasingly prominent role in her husband's tough presidential re-election campaign, Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy has made it plain that she wishes to keep her five-month old daughter – the first to child to be born to a French president while in office - firmly out of the public spotlight.

In an interview shortly before her daughter's birth, she warned: "I will do everything to protect this infant and I'll be absolutely rigorous. I will never show photos of this child, I will never expose this child. I think exposure to public life is a choice to be made by an adult."

This is the second Sarkozy child to receive unwanted media attention in a week. On Sunday, the President personally apologised to a police woman standing outside the preisdential residence after his youngest son Louis threw a tomato, a marble and other objects at her. » | Henry Samuel | Paris | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Moroccan Teenager's Suicide after She Was Forced to Marry Her Rapist
According to a government study conducted last year, almost one quarter of Moroccan women have been sexually assaulted at least once in their lives. – [Source: The Daily Telegraph]

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Moroccan teenager committed suicide after her family forced her to marry her rapist in a tragedy that has sparked outrage among Moroccan activists and demands for changes to the nation's laws.

Amina Filali, 16, drank rat poison last week in order to kill herself because she had been made to marry the man who raped her when she was 15 years old.

Activists have set up a Facebook group called "We are all Amina Filali", with almost 1,000 members. A petition was started which already contains more than 1,000 signatures, and hundreds of tweets detail people's horror at the tragedy.

Nabil Belkabir, an activist, implored people on Twitter to "Join the group 'We are all Amina Filali' if you don't want this drama to happen again."

According to the president of Morocco's Democratic League for Women's Rights, Fouzia Assouli, Miss Filali's rapist married her to avoid receiving a sentence for rape.

In Morocco this is punishable by five to ten years in prison, but the sentence rises to between ten and twenty years if the victim is a minor.

Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, which purports to defend family values, states that if a rapist marries his victim he is then exonerated of his crime. Ms Assouli attacked the article, saying it "does not uphold the rights of women". » | Paul Carsten, and agencies | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Netanyahu Is Preparing Israeli Public Opinion for a War on Iran
HAARETZ: In response to Netanyahu's AIPAC speech, Haaretz's editor-in-chief says that what looks like a preparation for war, acts like a preparation for war, and quacks like a preparation for war, is a preparation for war.
Since his return from Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has mainly been preoccupied with one thing: Preparing public opinion for war against Iran.

Netanyahu is attempting to convince the Israeli public that the Iranian threat is a tangible and existential one, and that there is only one effective way to stop it and prevent a "second Holocaust": An Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure, which is buried deep underground.

In his speech before the Knesset on Wednesday, Netanyahu urged his colleagues to reject claims that Israel is too weak to go it alone in a war against a regional power such as Iran and therefore needs to rely on the United States, which has much greater military capabilities, to do the job and remove the threat.

According to polls published last week, this is the position of most of the Israeli public, which supports a U.S. strike on Iran, but is wary of sending the IDF to the task without the backing of the friendly superpower. » | Aluf Benn | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Obama and Cameron: No Intervention in Syria, Pullout in Afghanistan

Homosexuality Is Not a Disorder: Gay Right[s] Activist to SC
DECCAN HERALD: Homosexuality is not a mental and psychological disorder and it is a normal form of sexuality, gay rights activists argued before the Supreme Court today while pleading for decriminalization of gay sex.

They told a bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya that decriminalization of homosexuality would remove the stigma on them.

"Homosexuality is a normal form of sexuality. It is simply a normal variant of sexuality. It is not a mental and psychological disorder. Many gay and lesbian people are even raising children.

"Science says that people develop such orientation before they become adult. It develops between middle childhood and early adulthood," senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for one of the gay rights organisation, said.

He further submitted that recently United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has placed his report before UN Assembly recommending quashing of all such legal provisions which criminalize homosexuality.

"In our society these things are not talked about. It is a dilemma for homosexuals. One feels isolated. There is a huge psychological stigma associated with homosexuality. It comes from two streams, one from societal and th other from legal. It is an emancipation petition and the court should liberate us from the stigma," he said.

The bench the said, "It is a failure of society not to provide dignity to people irrespective of sexual orientation and way of living". » | New Delhi | Thursday, March 15, 2012

WIKI: Deccan Herald »

Belgium Mosque Is Attacked with a Petrol Bomb
Muslims in the Anderlecht district of Brussels have mourned the death of the imam at their local Mosque after a man threw a petrol bomb through a window

The victim was aged 46 and died from smoke inhalation - a second man suffered knife wounds.

Police say they have detained a suspect.

Anderlecht's Mayor Gaetan Van Goidsenhoven was quickly on the scene and told reporters that he condemned the attack and hoped the person responsible will be suitably punished.

Belgium has a 500,000 strong Muslim population. Although there is no clear motive police say there have been occasional acts of violence within the Muslim communities in the area.

Our reporter in Brussels, Isabel Marques da Silva said: "The attack occurred a few minutes before final prayers, a fact which may have prevented more injuries. It has however greatly shocked the local residents with the authorities hoping to discover what made the perpetrator use such violence against a place of worship." [Source: euronews]

Barack Obama and David Cameron Exchange Toasts at White House Dinner
At a White House state dinner in David Cameron's honour on Wednesday the prime minister says he is honoured to call Barack Obama an ally, a partner and a friend, and Obama toasts the Queen on her diamond jubilee. Earlier on Wednesday David and Samantha Cameron visited a treatment centre for disabled children

Church Leaders 'Fan the Flames of Homophobia', Says Equalities Minister
Lynne Featherstone, the Equalities Minister, has called for an end to "inflammatory" language by opponents of same-sex marriages, vowing gay unions would be law by 2015.

Read the article here | Donna Bowater | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Afghan Fury as US Soldier Accused of Massacre Is Flown to Kuwait

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Afghan lawmakers have reacted with fury after the US soldier accused of massacring 16 civilians in Afghanistan was flown out of the country to an American base in Kuwait.

The military said the unnamed staff sergeant had been transferred because there were no suitable facilities for long-term detention in Afghanistan, but the move signalled the US's desire to prevent the criminal case against him from becoming a flashpoint for further violence.

The decision has provoked fury in Afghanistan, where MPs have demanded that the soldier be handed over to the Afghan justice system and called on President Hamid Karzai to suspend all talks with the US until that happens.

“It was the demand of the families of the martyrs of this incident, the people of Kandahar and the people of Afghanistan to try him publicly in Afghanistan,” said Mohammad Naeem Lalai Hamidzai, a Kandahar lawmaker who is part of a parliamentary commission investigating the shootings.

Abdul Khaliq Balakarzai, another Kandahar lawmaker, said President Hamid Karzai should respond to the US decision to move the soldier by refusing to sign a strategic partnership agreement governing the presence of US soldiers in the country after most combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014. » | Raf Sanchez and agencies | Thursday, March 15, 2012

Guardian Exclusive: Secret Assad Emails Lift Lid on Life of Leader's Inner Circle

THE GUARDIAN: • Messages show Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran • Leader made light of promised reforms • Wife spent thousands on jewellery and furniture

Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be several thousand emails received and sent by the Syrian leader and his wife.

The Syrian leader was also briefed in detail about the presence of western journalists in the Baba Amr district of Homs and urged to "tighten the security grip" on the opposition-held city in November.

The revelations are contained in more than 3,000 documents that activists say are emails downloaded from private accounts belonging to Assad and his wife Asma.

The messages, which have been obtained by the Guardian, are said to have been intercepted by members of the opposition Supreme Council of the Revolution group between June and early February.

The documents, which emerge on the first anniversary of the rebellion that has seen more than 8,000 Syrians killed, paint a portrait of a first family remarkably insulated from the mounting crisis and continuing to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.

They appear to show the president's wife spending thousands of dollars over the internet for designer goods while he swaps entertaining internet links on his iPad and downloads music from iTunes.

As the world watched in horror at the brutal suppression of protests across the country and many Syrians faced food shortages and other hardships, Mrs Assad spent more than £10,000 on candlesticks, tables and chandeliers from Paris and instructed an aide to order a fondue set from Amazon. » | Robert Booth, Mona Mahmood and Luke Harding | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Gilded lifestyle continued for Assad coterie as conflict raged in Syria: Bashar al-Assad appears to have emailed his wife song lyrics and video clips, while she shopped for shoes and chandeliers » | Robert Booth and Luke Harding | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syria: Assad family emails throw light on regime's inner circle – At the height of the Syrian army's assault on Homs, President Bashar al-Assad appears to have sent his wife the lyrics from a country and western song, while the British-born Asma spent thousands of pounds on jewellery and furniture. » | David Blair | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Extremist Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary Wants to 'Axe Bollywood'
DIGITAL JOURNAL: Radical Muslim extremist Anjem Choudary is attempting to bring his demands for Shariah law to India through Sharia4Hind. Thus far thwarted in his mission to turn Britain into a Caliphate state, he now turns to India and declares "Bollywood gets the axe."

Not content with spreading his message of hate in England where he lives at the taxpayers expense on benefits, radical Islamic extremist Anjem Choudary, who calls himself Manager of the Shariah Court of the U.K., has now turned his attention to India through his latest organization, Sharia for Hind.

Promoting the organization through the website Sharia4Hind, currently unavailable as blocked whilst the Delhi High Court reviews its status, Ennapadam Panchajanya states the website" declares emphatically that it is anti national and proudly Fascist, as it sends this message to Indian Muslims that “Indian Political Parties Have Preyed on the Muslim Community, As the Wolf Preys a Lamb; They Have Divided Us with Nationalism and Poisoned Us with Democracy." Read on and comment » | Katerina Nikolas | Monday, March 12, 2012

How an Hour Spent Smoking Trendy Shisha Pipes Is As Harmful As a Hundred Cigarettes
MAIL ONLINE: Hubbly-bubbly, hookah or shisha - whatever name it goes by, puffing on a Turkish waterpipe is the latest trend to hit British bars and cafes.

The flavoured tobacco, which is smoked via a long pipe connected to a vessel filled with water, is particularly fashionable among young people, with the number of specialist bars rising 210 per cent since 2007.

But the World Health Organisation has warned that a one-hour shisha session can be as harmful as smoking 100 cigarettes.

This is because a cigarette smoker typically takes between eight and 12 puffs, inhaling 0.5 to 0.6 litres of smoke.

But during an hour-long shisha sessions smokers may take up to 200 drags, ranging from 0.15 to 1 litre of smoke each.

‘Shisha smoking is a growing concern because people aren’t aware of the risks like they are with cigarette smoking,’ says Professor Robert West, director of tobacco studies at University College London.

‘The greater the exposure in terms of duration and amount smoked, the greater the risk to your health’[.]

That’s because although shisha tobacco tastes nicer than cigarettes, it contains all the same toxicants known to cause lung cancer and heart disease. Read on and comment » | Sharmeen Ziauddin | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Smoking shisha: how bad is it for you? : It is growing in popularity but some experts say a single shisha session is the same as smoking 200 cigarettes » | Huma Qureshi | Monday, August 22, 2011

Goldman Sachs Chief Lloyd Blankfein 'Disappointed' by Claims of 'Toxic' Greed
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has defended the firm after an employee attacked a "toxic" and "destructive" culture at the leading investment bank that is increasingly focused on making money from clients, in an article in the New York Times.

Greg Smith, who is resigning today as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of its US equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa after 12 years, wrote:

"I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it. To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money."

In a memo to staff, Goldman chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said he was "disappointed to read the assertions... that do not reflect our values, our culture and how the vast majority of people at Goldman Sachs think about the firm".

Mr Blankfein wrote that although it was "not shocking that some people could feel disgruntled" in a company of Goldman's size (it has 30,000 employees) and that the firm is "far from perfect", he expects staff to "find the words you read today foreign from your own day-to-day experiences".

In Mr Smith's article entitled Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs he writes that over the past twelve months he had seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets”, sometimes over internal e-mail. Read on and comment » | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Related »

Weiss: Zionism Has Created 'Rivers of Blood'
Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss explains why he believes that Israel as a state is not legitimate.

Read the article here | Talk to Al Jazeera | Saturday, March 10, 2012
NB: This video does not appear here because it is what I believe; rather, it has been posted for the sake of interest. It is a highly controversial viewpoint.

What If Democracy Is Just an Illusion?

AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: In the US, the dominant political discourse consists of ideas put forth by the ruling class.

New Haven, CT - Karl Marx never visited the United States, but he nevertheless understood the country, because he understood capitalism. As you know, there's no American ideology that's mightier than capitalism. Equality, justice and the rule of law are nice and all, but money talks.

In their 1846 book The German Ideology, Marx and co-author Frederick Engels took a look at human history and made a plain but controversial observation. In any given historical period, the ideas that people generally think are the best and most important ideas are usually the ideas of the people in charge. If you have a lot of money and own a lot of property, then you have the power to propagandise your worldview and you have incentive to avoid appearing as if you're propagandising your worldview. Or, as Marx and Engels would put it: The ruling ideas of every epoch are the ideas of the ruling class.

The ideas of the one per cent become the dominant ideas because the one per cent convinces the 99 per cent that its ideas are the only rational and universally valid ideas. Consider free-market capitalism. The idea says that growth provides prosperity to all, that government governs best when it governs least, so there's no need to discuss the redistribution of wealth. That's neoliberalism and that idea has been the only acceptable economic policy since the Clinton era. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was its greatest champion. After the collapse of the housing market, he said he was dead wrong. Even so, the idea remains dominant. Why? Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but the ruling class happens to make a lot of money from a free market.

Americans tend to look askance at Marx and I don't blame them. He was, after all, the father of socialism, as well as the guy associated with Josef Stalin, who was, you know, a homicidal totalitarian dictator. But as philosopher John Gray has noted, Marx got a lot wrong about Marxism but he got a lot right about capitalism. He understood that ideas don't exist in bubbles - they have a concrete material context and have a human cost. » | John Stoehr* | Tuesday, March 13, 2012

* John Stoehr is the editor of the New Haven Advocate and a lecturer at Yale.

Al Jazeera Exodus: Channel Losing Staff Over ‘Bias’

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SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Tiny Qatar Has Big Diplomatic Ambitions: With his wealth, diplomatic skills and Al-Jazeera television network, Qatar's Emir Hamad Al Thani has become one of the most important politicians in the Middle East. The tiny state is becoming a force to be reckoned with, but the emir's motives are obscure. » | Alexander Smoltczyk and Bernhard Zand | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

‘No Independent Journalism Anymore’ – Ex-Al Jazeera Reporter

Nicolas Sarkozy s'efforce d'apaiser les musulmans de France

REUTERS – FRANCE: PARIS - Nicolas Sarkozy a adressé mercredi un message d'apaisement aux six millions de musulmans de France, irrités par la récente polémique sur l'abattage rituel lancée par le Front national mais alimentée par lui-même et son ministre de l'Intérieur.

Le président de la République, candidat à un second mandat, a rencontré les dirigeants de la communauté musulmane française à la Grande Mosquée de Paris, à la mi-journée.

Officiellement, il s'agissait de rendre hommage aux combattants musulmans morts pour la France en inaugurant une plaque à leur mémoire dans l'enceinte de ce bâtiment mauresque, construit dans les années 1920.

A 39 jours du premier tour de l'élection présidentielle, Nicolas Sarkozy a cependant précisé qu'il avait aussi voulu assurer les musulmans "de leur place dans la République".

"J'ai voulu (...) dire à nos compatriotes de confession musulmane qu'ils ont naturellement le droit de vivre leur foi comme n'importe quel citoyen a le droit de vivre sa religion, que nous souhaitons un islam de France", a-t-il expliqué.

"Je leur ai dit également combien je souhaitais qu'en cette période électorale certains de nos compatriotes ne se sentent pas blessés par des polémiques qui n'ont pas lieu d'être." » | Par Emmanuel Jarry | mercredi 14 mars 2012

Afghan Taliban Threaten to Behead U.S. Soldiers; Government Team Attacked
REUTERS.COM: Suspected insurgents fired on an Afghan government delegation on Tuesday investigating the massacre of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier, officials said, hours after the Taliban threatened to behead American troops to avenge the killings.

Two of President Hamid Karzai's brothers, Shah Wali Karzai and Addul Qayum Karzai, were with senior defense, intelligence and interior ministry officials travelling to the scene of the massacre in Najiban and Alekozai villages, in Kandahar's Panjwai district, when insurgents opened fire.

Karzai's brothers were unharmed in the brief gunbattle during meetings at a village mosque, but a soldier and a civilian were wounded. The area is a Taliban stronghold and a supply route.

"The Islamic Emirate once again warns the American animals that the mujahideen will avenge them, and with the help of Allah will kill and behead your sadistic murderous soldiers," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, using the term with which the Islamist group describes itself. » | Rob Taylor and Mirwais Harooni | Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Rick Santorum Sweeps Mississippi and Alabama in Blow for Mitt Romney
THE GUARDIAN: Pressure piles on Newt Gingrich to quit as Rick Santorum takes Mississippi and Alabama, with Mitt Romney trailing third

Rick Santorum has made a clean sweep of the Deep South primaries, taking Mississippi and Alabama in victories that put pressure on Newt Gingrich to bow out and set up a showdown in Illinois next week with the struggling favourite, Mitt Romney.

Gingrich came second, with Romney third and Ron Paul a distant fourth. Although Gingrich vowed to carry on, if he cannot win Mississippi or Alabama, he has little chance of winning anywhere else. He goes to Chicago for a fund-raising event on Wednesday and is likely also to hold a post-mortem with his backers to discuss the viability of fighting on.

If Gingrich bows out and the conservative vote rallies around Santorum, he would be well placed to take on Romney in Illinois, one of the biggest states in contention.

Santorum, at an election party in Louisiana, one of the upcoming contests, said there was nothing inevitable about Romney winning the Republican nomination to take on Barack Obama in November, even with all the millions of dollars behind him.

"For someone who thinks this race is inevitable, he spent a whole lot of money against me for someone who is inevitable," Santorum said.

Invoking his faith right at the start of his speech, he said: "I want to thank God for giving us the strength every day to go out there." » | Ewen MacAskill | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Barack Obama Welcomes David Cameron to the White House – Live
THE GUARDIAN: The president is welcoming David Cameron to the White House at the start of the British prime minister's official visit to the US. Obama is greeting Cameron on the South Lawn before a day of meetings.

JOIN THE LIVE CHAT

VISIT WHITEHOUSE.GOV

Follow live coverage here » | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Imran Khan Pulls Out of India Visit to Avoid Salman Rushdie

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Imran Khan, the former Pakistani cricket captain, has abruptly pulled out of a visit to India after he learned that Sir Salman Rushdie would speak at the same conference.

Khan, whose political party draws some of its support from hardline religious elements in Pakistan, has been a frequent critic of The Satanic Verses author, a spat that is rapidly turning into a feud.

Shireen Mazari, a senior member of Khan's Movement for Justice party, said he was cancelling his appearance as a key note speaker at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi on Friday.

"He could not even think of participating in any programme that included Salman Rushdie, who has caused immeasurable hurt to Muslims across the globe," she said. » | Rob Crilly | Islamabad | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs
THE NEW YORK TIMES: TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.

To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.

It might sound surprising to a skeptical public, but culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a firm for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief. » | Greg Smith* | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

* Greg Smith is resigning today as a Goldman Sachs executive director and head of the firm’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – IAIN MARTIN: A knee in the nuts that means serious trouble for Goldman Sachs: In the New York Times there is an absolutely devastating attack on the culture of Goldman Sachs, by one of its senior executives. He announces that he is resigning today because he has had it with the firm's alleged practices. He criticises the way in which one of the world's largest and most important investment banks now looks after the interests of its clients. ¶ This is what is known as a public relations disaster. » | Iain Martine | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

THE GUARDIAN: Goldman Sachs director quits 'morally bankrupt' Wall Street bank: Greg Smith resigns as executive director of Goldman's European equity derivatives business after devastating attack » | Juliette Garside and Jill Treanor | Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Prince Harry on Royalty: Not a Fairytale
Britain's Prince Harry speaks to Seth Doane about growing up royal, representing his grandmother, the queen, for her Diamond Jubilee, and why he'd go back to Afghanistan if he could.